Travelling Mini

Everyone knows I love a good swap!  And this mini is travelling around for a 7 month tour of swapping!! 

For this Your Paper Pantry swap we create the covers and give some guidelines on how to fill the pages inside.  I asked for a Marie Antoinette/Paris/Chic look. I created the cover with some of my favorite stash goodies like the felt bird cage and flat back back pearls.  Of course, I added my favorite Rumple Ribbon in Butter Cream and I Love Grunge... and it is off travelling to 7 other swappers to have the pages filled out..

 Up close and personal with those beautiful pieces of Rumple Ribbon.  This was the very last tiny scraps I had of Buttercream.  I am off to order more - you can, too.

I used a ribbon holder, flat back black pearls and some shabby ribbons I just love and since they come back to me - I will see them again!!  I covered the chipboard with pretty mulberry paper (You might remember from some baby shower goodies) and shabby flowers.

My Lost Shaker of Salt

I just love that Buffett song, don't you!!  If I lost a salt shaker I am pretty sure they would look something like this!!

I joined a swap on Your Paper Pantry for altered salt shakers and I am so glad I did!  I started with my Lovebug drawer of pretty and just had some fun!  The one below has some crushed rumple ribbon (I said cherished in the video... I was wrong).  I added a metal filagree piece that I love.  Next is a pretty ribbon fashioned into a flower/rosette with a paper flower in the center.  Then I hung that cool TH piece from the side.

 This one has some pretties from the holiday collection.  Merry Mesh on the bottom layer, Holiday Grunge is that beautiful purple/blue/pink rumple ribbon and some charms and prettys to bling it up.  I made a video to give you a closer look.  Hope you enjoy!  Pick up your Lovebug Goodies Here

White on White card (mostly)

Here in Chicago we have been dealing with literally arctic temperatures.  So I crafted!!  This is for the greeting card swap on Your Paper Pantry.  The card should be A2 and white on white.  A little pop of color was ok (I checked!!)

I think one of the keys to making white on white work well is that things need to be really - really crisp.  The embossing turned out well and I matted that smaller set on white, too.  Just to give it a border and 'define it'.  If that were crooked or sloppy, I think it wouldn't work as well.  Really looking forward to seeing what the others put together.  I always pin white on white cards on Pinterest and was glad to finally make one.

YPP Tag Swap

This month the tag swap was for gift packages. I used paper from a recollections non traditional color set. You might remember this from a mini I made last year. I folded the green paper and put it just under the top of the nestie die so I wouldn't cut it in two. This left a fold in the top. I stamped To: and From: on the inside on white. Outside I cut a circle with the pink trees paper and one in white. I added some swirl and pink perfect pearls to the top. Gave that a hit of Vanilla Smooch. Then I stamped the Happy Holidays from Marthas tag set and heat embossed that in silver. I covered the seam of the two with a green SU ribbon and slid on a ginvle bell. To cover the hinge on the top I used another piece from the collection stamped with that great SU punch we all love. I added eyelets and pink bakers twine. Five of these off to the hostess for swapping.

Book Mark

There is a new group on YPP we are calling 'Book Club'. I haven't seen the first book to read yet, but I did find the first swap. Book Marks... of course. This one was nice and easy - just 2x6-7 inches and have fun. I dug out some lovely pansies (real pressed flowers, folks) that a friends supplies me

and modge podged the afternoon away.

Purple Cup of Sugar

One of my favorite swaps is the 'cup of sugar'. Basically it is a product exchange between crafty folks who hoard our toys!! This month was a color theme. This was great! I loved digging through all my goodies and finding my partern's favorite color

- Purle, incase you missed it. I also picked up some purple bling and goodies at Michaels. But I wanted to add a special touch to this 'cup'. So I hand made a bunch of flowers. Some of felt, some paper, some fabric. (For those who are too observent... I use old magazines as my craft space. I like that when I have glue globs or ink smudges I can just rip off one page and have a clean space. And the thickness is great for stamping. There was a goofy add behind these photos - I didn't even notice!!) Here is the video Nicole made when she got her 'cup' in the mail. on you tube

Vintage Upcycled Paper Bag

Upcycled Paper Bag for YPP I just love the Upcycled bag swaps. We take a regular everyday lunch bag and make it lovely. You can make it with the bottom still square to fill with a gift. I did some like this to give away garden herbs this summer. Or you can make it flatter for a gift like a card or certificate or with a really flat back to add to a mini album with some tags.

I made this one more as a mini insert in mind. I didn’t make the tags, because I just thought it would be better to make tags to coordinate with what the recipient’s theme was. To start, I pulled the bottom flap up and this created a pocket. At the top of the pocket (and not real visible here I added a trim punched with a simple edger on black cardstock. Next I layered that red on red piece from K&Co Engraved Garden paper pack. If you look closely – you will see perfume bottles, corsets, martini glasses, shoes, all girly treats. Before I adhered that piece down I took a buckle (that used to be silver but I colored with a gold dauber). Then I set it on an angle. We usually use a straight line, or I do at least. But I left this open in the front to hold a tag or photo. I made that stickpin to pull in all the colors I was working with and secured it in the ribbon (Nero by Stampin Up). On the top potion I started with a piece of black cardstock run through a script cuttlebug folder which I lightly ran a versa pad over and dusted on some gold perfect pearls. And a touch of vanilla smooch spray to set it. Next I found the image (always a requirement on the YPP paper bag swaps). It is a corset layered over sheet music. I was looking for a great vintage corset to stamp sheet music on… or maybe I would have printed it on a piece, but it came already put together…yeah. I edged that in two shades of reddy/pink from SU (Riding Hood Red and Cherry Cobbler) I like the effect of two coordinate colors giving a darker line to the edge. Then, I tipped the very edges with walnut stain from TH. I distressed the edges with water, I saw this on a youtube vide and just love the effect. After the reds and walnut are both applied just dip a brush in water and pull that dark brown in towards the image. It grabs the reds with it and really makes a nice blend. Also, it curls the edges a bit for a truly old look. I used some leaves from the bridal section at Michaels (I only go there in that aisle I swear!) The little mulberry roses are IAmRoses and the larger brown and cream are velvet ones from prima I found on CloseOutGirl’s etsy shop. I added a gold brad in the center to bring in the gold of the buckle. That left a hole on the left side which I filled pretty easily. A SU punch of red cardstock, a crown stamped with versa mark and touched with gold perfect pearls. I also ran a versa mark pen on the edges and gave it the gold pearls, too. I though this made it look more like a frame, though it doesn’t show well in the photo. A smooch spray to set and gold brads to make it look anchored to the image. I think these turned out nicely and I can’t wait to see what comes my way!!

Wine bags for YPP

I am not so good at reading directions, never have been. I see a picture and make it my own. That isn’t always a good thing in some of these swaps. This month’s Wine Group on Your Paper Pantry we were to make three wine bags – cloth or fabric… your choice.
So I went and made three bags. Super girly fun – two rows of scallops, one in pink polka dots and one in black. On the top I tied a pink ribbon and added a tiny bling at every single scallop. I layered those on top of tulle – yeah netting!! I was trying to make it look like a window…ish. The scallops made the valance and the netting the curtain.
I found a string of pink zebra beads on clearance…ok you know I am not passing up PINK Zebra! While it took a serious effort, I was able to thread that bead on to the netting and give the ‘curtain’ a band or pinch point. Really happy with that look.
That was hot glued over a sheet of zebra and pink cardstocks cut to fit my bag. To me, no bag is complete without a tag so I added one. Somewhere when I was stalking the YPP group to see who had made what I read we were meant to incorporate a cork..NUTS!

So I decided to take two shades of pink and ‘cork’ on the tag (cut with that great multi tag Sizzix die). I had a bottle stamped in black and think that was super cute.
And since these were uber girly, I decided to break into the vault and pull out some Pro31 Jumbo Chandelier drops in pink and add those to the tag. I thought about adding some more charms and blinging it up, but the bag was fairly simple, so I thought the tag should be, too. Just a double chain with the bauble at the end, tied on with the same pink ribbon.
Great right… Well, I kind of cheated on the cork, I will probably be forgiven for that… but then I read the rest of the directions.

Yep, after I was finished and looking for an envelope big enough for my bags… challenge was add a cork and grapes… NUTS! They are going to make me drink boxed wine – or *gasp* White Zin. Maybe I better send wine IN my bags!!

Graphic 45 Card for YPP

Not sure how I missed it but there is a greeting card swap on YPP. I love this! I love to see the mojo of others up close and personal. This month’s swap was to stop hoarding that beautiful Graphic 45 paper and make some cards – eight to be exact.
I bought the Little Darlings pack to make a mini for my grandson. Then my nephew came along and I used some of the blue and green pages for him too. Which left me a big pack of pink lovely papers I can’t use. My family has a ration of about 7:2 boys to girls. No ruffles and pretty around here!!
So I spent several hours playing in the pink! I used my favorite 6x6 easel card, which I think is especially nice for a baby or wedding style card. I found the sketch on Mojo Monday and just went to town. The base is a champagne color from Bazil, which is a nice compliment to the aged look of G45 papers. The topper on half is a little dot and the other half that cherub with the huge roses. The offset square, which would be a great place to put a little photo is different on each but I tried to pull out the best of each paper rather than just slap a color on it.
The bottom of the front is stamped with those new flourish stamps I used on the stationary set a few weeks ago. I just love the versatility in that. Next, I inked some paper flowers to match and added some bling. That ribbon is actually paper, feels like bamboo kind of. And I thought the gold buckle kind of pulled in the little pair of shoes. The shoes are from my monthly Auntie’s Attic kit, how great are they! The G45 stuff just always comes together so very nicely and I love that the addition of something else doesn’t look out of place.
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The inside I layered some pink cardstock with another sheet of G45 striped paper. The stopper for the easel is a SU punch and says ‘hello baby’ – accented in bling… of course. These are so sweet, I wish I had a pretty pink bundle to send one to. Don’t get me wrong, I am CRAZY about the blue bundles… but pink is so pretty ;)

or Your Paper Pantry swap

All Corked Up

Your Paper Pantry has started a brand new swap group all about wines! I am having so much fun with it. Last month was the wine glass charms and this month was key chains made with corks. I love cork projects!! I have a lot of corks around the house and love an excuse to use them up.
These were a bit of a challenge for me. The examples I could find on line were too plain – so I did mine up a bit. ;)

Basically, I made a chunky charm using some wine themed charms from Oriental Trading and coordinating beads from who knows where. You shop there, too, right..
To affix the decoration to the cork we used small closed eye screws. I used one on top to add the charms and key ring and one on the bottom, where I added a really unique and wine specific bead/charm… just one, can you believe it! My key rings are not for everyday use… nope. These are for one key that you drop off at the neighbor to water your plants when you are out of town.
The tags, I think are really nice. I hope people can use them on a wine bottle on a gift maybe.
I started with a standard tag and a great sheet of Fiskars wine related stamps. In the corner I stamped the leaves and filled them in with my Copics – any excuse for practice, right?
I layered on a plain – yep, not decorated or altered at all, sheet of rich purple and tore the edge by leaves for interest. Next I cut a half circle and stamped a single leaf with TH tea dye all over it and inked it up. While I was at it, I inked the leaf corner and the top – which begged for some single leafs, too.
That looked a bit plain so I added the wine glass and ‘cheers’ and Copic’d the wine. I toyed with making it a red wine, but I didn’t have the right colors and I like how the golden hues are more muted. I had a great sheet of wine paper that I punched with the SU label punch and punched a cream and purple layer, too.
Finally, I thought some

bling was in order. A nice strip to accentuate the curve of circle – to me it looks like a ring left by a glass. A few on the leaves and some swirls so that purple isn’t so plain.
Three of these are on the way to Stacy and I can’t wait to get mine in return.
If you aren’t swapping at YPP – check it out. I love that the sign ups are all on the same day and they are all due the same day of the month. It makes it really nice to stay organized. Not to mention, the quality of the swaps is really outstanding.